Aeromancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 3)

“Get away from me!”

Taking another step closer, he whispered, “I smell your fear and it makes me hard.”

“Step the fuck away from her,” a cold, hard voice said from the hallway.

Lann.

An artic wind blasted into the room and slammed into the wall behind her. The men guarding the door pulled knives from under their jackets.

“Lann!”

Kat screamed, but before the sound had left her lips, Lann aimed and fired two pistols. The men dropped where they’d been standing.

“Come to me,” Lann said, the strain evident on his face as he kept his weapons and gaze trained on the man.

Kat scrambled off the bed and rushed to Lann’s side.

“Piranha,” Lann said, spitting the words at their assailant. “Gift hunter.”

“Money can’t buy you love,” the man said, his eyes fixed on Kat, “but it’s not love I’m after, is it, darlin’?” He looked at Lann. “Silver bullets?” The man sneered, flashing his filed teeth. “Godfrey made me immune.”

“Ah. The rumour is true,” Lann said. “Then it’s also true that the fire experiment didn’t work. Get ready to burn in hell, David.” Sparks formed at Lann’s fingertips.

The man laughed. “I’ll be back, aeromancist.” With a poof, the man called David was gone.

Kat stared at the spot where he’d been standing.

“Quickly,” Lann said, holstering one of the guns and taking her hand. “We have to get out of here. He’ll be back with reinforcements.”

She was shaking from head to toe. Lann pulled her behind him down the stairs. In the foyer, the bald man lay on the floor in a pool of blood.

Lann sheltered her, blocking her view. “Don’t look.”

In the street, he started running, dragging her along. They didn’t stop until they reached a lone car on a deserted street.

“Get in,” he said, opening the door on the passenger side.

He rushed around and took the wheel, glancing in the rearview mirror as he peeled out of the parking spot.

Only when they were a few kilometers away, finally taking a bigger road again, did he speak. “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head.

He pursed his lips. “You have no idea how lucky you are I found you.”

The sun appeared on a washed-out winter horizon when Lann took an exit that led them back to the city. The night was gone. Too shaken to speak, she sat quietly during the drive, only daring to ask, “Where are we?” when Lann parked in front of a posh-looking apartment building.

He didn’t answer.

After helping her from the car, he kept a firm hand on her arm as he led her into a building and up the stairs to a single door on the top floor. The door opened immediately. Eve stood in the frame, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

She looked past Kat at Lann. “Did they bite her?”

“No.” He pushed Kat inside and closed the door.

Eve punched a code into an alarm panel on the wall.

Did they bite her? What the hell did that mean? What had happened back there? Kat’s mind was reeling. “Where am I?”

Lann’s golden eyes were dangerously dark. “A safe house.”

“We need to call Joss,” Eve said.

“First make sure she’s all right.”

Eve took Kat’s hand. “Did they touch you?”

“Only when he threw me onto the bed.”

Fisting his hands, Lann turned away.

Eve tilted Kat’s head sideways, inspecting her neck. “I want to get your vitals. Let’s go to the main bedroom.”

“I’m fine,” Kat said. “Who were those men?”

“You’ve been through a stressful experience,” Eve said. “I need to make sure—”

Kat turned to Lann. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”

Lann regarded her. For a second, he seemed conflicted, but then a look of determination came over his features. In one step, he was next to her. Before she knew what was happening, he’d scooped her up in his arms and was carrying her down the hallway.

“Put me down,” Kat exclaimed.

“I will. In the bedroom.”

She pushed on his chest. “I said, put me down.”

“Damn you, Katherine.” He tightened his grip. “I’m trying to help you.”

In the room, he unceremoniously dumped her onto the bed. Her back hit the mattress with a thump.

Eve approached with a stethoscope.

“You called him Piranha,” Kat said as the doctor unbuttoned Kat’s coat and pushed the instrument against her chest.

“Quiet,” Eve said, “I’m trying to listen to your heart.”

“That’s what we call them,” Lann said, crossing his arms. “It’s a gang name. To them, it’s an insult.”

“What is he?”

“Gila shifter.”

She couldn’t have heard right. “What?”

Lann only stared at her.

She’d read about them in legends and verses, but they weren’t supposed to exist. “Do they bite like vampires? He said he couldn’t bite me but—”

“I heard.” Lann clenched his jaw. “They’re cannibals. David is one of the most powerful.”

“He knew my name.” Kat shivered at the memory. “Why?”

“He’s a gift hunter.”

“Like human trafficking?”

“Just a little pinch,” Eve said when she inserted a needle into Kat’s arm.